High-def digital mics to debut

PITTSBURGH  Akustica Inc. will announce a CMOS MEMS microphone family for high-definition applications including voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) at Computex next month (June 5-9) in Taipei, Taiwan. The new family of CMOS microphones uses a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) diaphragm that conforms to the Telecommunications Industries Association's TIA-920 specification for wideband digital transmission telephony.

"Our new high-definition CMOS MEMS microphones provide as dramatic an improvement in audio quality as HDTVs provide for video," said Davin Yuknis, vice president of marketing and product management, at Akustica, here. "Our goal is to provide digital silicon microphones that raise the bar of telephony so that its quality rivals face-to-face conversations."

An industry collaborator, Britian's Skype Ltd., has endorsed Akustica's new family of TIA-920 compatible HD silicon microphones as a logical companion to an upcoming wave of superwideband codecs designed to provide 48-kbit/second HD-quality VoIP. Texas Instruments Inc. announced such an HD telephony codec last month.

"Akustica recognizes that HD voice quality does not depend solely on the availability of wideband codecs and networks. It is just as important to use a microphone that maintains the original voice input quality as closely as possible," said Jonathan Christensen, head of audio and video development at Skype. "The market is finally starting to realize the dramatic improvement in intelligibility and nuance that HD voice quality brings to an Internet call. We welcome Akustica's innovation and look forward to working with them."